The BMW Group has reported its monthly and year-to-date (YTD) sales for May 2011, and the results are a mixed bag for the German company. Selling the lion’s share of motorcycles in the group, BMW Motorrad posted a modest 3.5% sales increase last month, over the sales figures from May 2010, and a 7.3% sales increase over YTD sales compared to last year as well.

However, BMW’s other motorcycle subsidiary, Husqvarna, didn’t fare quite as well. The Swedish brand posted a 59.5% drop in sales for May 2011, with that figure helping contribute to a 14.6% drop in YTD figures compared to 2010. The silver lining perhaps in that news is that Husqvarna sold only 537 bikes this may, while BMW Motorrad sold 12,568 (roughly half of what the MINI brand sold last month).

Unsurprisingly the BMW Group is saying that Germany is its best market for motorcycles. Other stats included say that YTD volume numbers for BMW Motorrad were 48,749, while Husqvarna’s YTD sales figures were 3,080. Hopefully for both brands their new bikes will help bolster sales later this year. BMW has a water-cooled version of its popular boxer motor coming out, while Husqvarna will enter the fray with a 900cc maxi-motard later this year at the EICMA show.

If the US is any indication of how things are going in the rest of the world, I’m not surprised Husqvarna sales are down. With BMW getting rid of Husqvarna USA, there is no longer a US specific web site, and it’s difficult to tell what bikes are for sale in the US, where good dealers are, etc. With BMW making the Husky 450/510s into BMW G450s, why would you buy a Husky when you can buy a BMW and get a stronger dealer network?